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After the Biden administration increased pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu and demanded an end to the Israeli bombing of Gaza, international efforts to end the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas accelerated.
A regional official briefing the area said that a ceasefire might be reached in a few days, and Hamas official Moussa Abu Mazuk told the Lebanese television station al-Mayadeen that he hopes to reach a ceasefire “in one or two days.”
Officials in the region told the Financial Times that mediation was gaining momentum after U.S. President Joe Biden told the Israeli Prime Minister on Wednesday that he “expects a substantial downgrade today on the path to a ceasefire”. Netanyahu responded on Wednesday that he was “determined to continue this operation until its goals are achieved.”
Officials in the region said on Thursday: “After Biden’s statement yesterday, the momentum has increased. I think the Israelis have achieved most of their goals.” “The United States has been helping to put pressure on Israel, and they have been involved, but yesterday It was the first time they really applied pressure.”
According to local health officials, Israel continued its air strikes on Gaza on Thursday. Since May 10, 230 Palestinians have been killed, including 104 women and children. Since the conflict broke out last week, Hamas has launched more than 3,700 rockets into Israel and 12 Israelis have been killed, including two children. However, the scale of the attacks on both sides seemed to decrease overnight.
An Arab diplomat involved in the mediation stated that they hope Israel and Hamas can moderate hostilities long enough to allow humanitarian aid to enter the blocked Mediterranean enclave with a population of 2 million, in order to “test the conditions for an extension of the ceasefire.” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas visited Israel on Thursday to facilitate a ceasefire and discuss ways to mediate a long-term solution to the conflict. He also expressed Germany’s support for Israel and its right to self-defense.
Officials in the region said that negotiations on a formal ceasefire depend on Hamas’ main demands: end the deportation of Palestinian families by the residents of Sheikh Jarrah in occupied East Jerusalem; end the third holy land of Islam. Restrictions on the Kesa Mosque; and simplify the provision of aid and reconstruction materials to the Gaza Strip. The Al-Aqsa Mosque is located in a complex where both religions are sacred. The complex is called Haram ash-Sharif or Noble Sanctuary by Muslims and the Temple Mount by Jews.
The United Nations, Egypt and Qatar are involved in the space shuttle diplomacy between Hamas and the Israeli military, and Hamas treats Israel, the United States and the European Union as terrorist organizations. Arab diplomats said that part of the reason is that Hamas asked Israel to stop airstrikes targeting senior leaders of radical groups.
The Israeli army told the Israeli Hebrew media on Wednesday that in the current hostilities, the Israeli army tried to kill the Hamas military leader Mohamed Deif twice, but he escaped both times.
The military earlier stated that in the May 12 air strike, it also targeted Deif’s associates, who were described in the local media as “Israel’s most wanted criminal”. Arab diplomats say it is also complicated to negotiate a ceasefire before Israel’s military objectives are completed.
Israeli jets carried out more strikes on targets in Gaza on Thursday morning, including what it described as a tunnel network, rocket launchers and “military operations” rooms.
Hamas fired short rockets at Israeli communities near Gaza. An anti-tank missile launched from inside Gaza hit a bus used to transport Israeli soldiers on Thursday. A witness told Kan Kan Public Broadcasting Company that Army Radio said a soldier was injured and the soldiers got out of the vehicle “only a few seconds ago.”
Other reports by Erika Solomon in Berlin
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